The Curious Case Of Edtech

Hello Friends,

I hope the new year has started on an excellent note for all of you. But has your learning journey started yet? Have you been able to pick up the first book of your choice in this brand new year? Or the wishlist is still untouched? I have been able to grab a copy of a very interesting read and today I am going to share that experience with you all. Let's start with our first book review of 2024.

Education The Backbone Of A Growing Society

Before we get into the details of the book let me give you a brief on why this book is different & an important one for all of us. We have been taught since our childhood that a proper education is one of the most essential prerequisites for building a successful career. Hence our parents make all possible efforts to make sure that we get the access to the best available education facilities available in the market. While doing so sometimes they have to sacrifice their own dreams and invest all their hard earned money on their kids' education. After all parents want to fulfill some of their own dreams through their kids. Isn't it?

They want their kids to achieve greater social status and a quality education is the key to that aspiration. Over the years education system has gone through a complete makeover specially in our country. There was a time when Indian students used to aspire to get an admission in prestigious global educational entities like Oxford, Howard, Cambridge to name a few (Most of the people still hold the same aspiration though). But today India is the hub for many prestigious institutions including the IITs, IIMs and several more who have built the ideal infrastructure for providing quality education that can attract global talent too.

Transformed Mode Of Education

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At the same time the mode of education has gone through several changes too. Continuous transformation over the years has seen even the age old pen & paper mode is being replaced by elearning and high end technology taking a centre stage in educating our future generation. Technology enabled education popularly termed as edtech has created a whole new world of exciting opportunities for all stakeholders including students, teachers, business owners, investors and employees. Nobody thought about concepts like Video lectures, ebooks, online exams that are being used in the current education infrastructure couple of decades back.

With every passing day newer technology being added it is fair to say that it's going to be the segment that is going to attract lot of eyeballs in the near future too. But it's human nature from the very ancient times to make a mess of good opportunities and use it rather for evil purpose. If the rise of edtech has brought a plethora of opportunities for many, there have been several instances where these opportunities have been misused to make some quick money by compromising the real values and ethos of providing education. Today's book review is about one such modern day edtech behemoth whose journey has become a talk of the town majorly for the wrong reasons.

An Eye Opener For Edtech

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Image design: Bala Kumar

The Learning trap: How Byju's took Indian edtech for a ride is self explanatory by the title itself. For me personally getting to read a thought provoking book like this on the education industry and its developments is very exciting for two reasons. Firstly because of my involvement into the segment as a professional for more than a decade now. Secondly very few books get published which cover so much detailed explanation about education technology or its torch bearers. But to be honest I was excited to pick up a book like this even as an avid reader too. This is not just a book which covers the rags to riches journey of yet another Indian startup or talks only about the glorified achievements by putting a lid on the harsh realities. Rather it keeps on throwing punches one after another with the hard facts that revolves around the modern day education system.

Brand That Was Expected To Be The Gamechanger

Byju's has been a prominent name for some time now when it comes to application of technology in education. Post covid its popularity increased drastically due to the kind of business it generated & the interest it could create amidst the global investing firms. In hindsight it is probably fair to say now that the excessive outpouring of funds during a global crisis like covid made the founder team so overconfident that they even forgot the basics of business. However the book just doesn't cover the overhyped funding details or the acquisitions it made to stamp its authority globally. Author has been instrumental in depicting the entire journey starting with a humble beginning, initial challenges, early success, promise of a revolution in Indian education system, the crazy trip in the world of investors, creating a heavily loaded sales engine, beginning of the end and ultimately staring down the barrel for the improbable survival.

Credit to author Pradip for accumulating all the minute details during every step of the business. He being an enthusiast of education technology about which he writes regularly in his news portal The Morning Context (https://themorningcontext.com/) would have helped to collect facts and figures (Click here to see Pradip's detailed profile). But I appreciate his efforts to exhibit substantial evidences against each of the facts presented in the book. That's a testament to the fact that the details mentioned in the book are not just words spread in the media world or part of any conspiracy theory to malign the image of a well known brand.

The Good & The Not So Good

Best part of the book is definitely the thorough research on every aspect of Byju's business. You will be able to find various interviews with previous employees of the organization, references from the conversation with the founder, snapshots of various online articles regarding latest developments in the company throughout the chapters. Pradip being a regular follower of Byju's work lot of references are there from his own work too. We are mostly aware of the toxic work culture that prevails in Byju's through various social media posts or our own network. This book provides a clear picture of how the much talked about sales engine of the edtech giant works to generate huge amount of revenue in expense of human emotions, parents' sacrifices and above all future of lakhs of aspiring students.

Mostly all the chapters are written in very simple language making it easily understandable for readers of all ages. Couple of chapters with detailed explanation of revenues and funds received through investments might seem bit too much for some readers unless they are well versed with typical business jargons or how things work in startup economics. Some of the concepts seem to be repetitive at places or bit to prolonged which could have definitely be presented in a precise manner. But again the flow of the entire narration is such that you won't find it boring though.

Questions & Lessons For Everybody

Pradip's book is significant in the current scenario of prolonged funding winter for edtech organizations for many reasons

Ø It shows the real face of media exaggerated edtech organizations which compromise on values and their responsibilities towards all the stakeholders.

Ø Byju’s is a prime example of the fact that only with money you can’t grow a sustainable business unless you have other components for success in place.

Ø High time parents take their time to conduct a thorough research before paying for their kids' education rather than simply getting attracted to million dollar marketing campaigns.

Ø Burning question is are the edtech startups capable of growing in absence of fat cheques from investors.

What lessons other startups can take from Byju's is a valuable question as there have been a lot of companies who tried following their footsteps post covid crisis majorly to satisfy their own FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). It will also be interesting to see how edtech organizations specially the ones catering to K12 & test prep segment reassess their strategies after the recent announcement by government with regard to regulations to operate coaching centres . Brands like Physicswallah, Vedantu, Unacademy are also on a mission to revolutionize education in their own way. We hope that all the current or future edtech startups realize their responsibilities towards the society and contribute in a positive manner rather than just coming with a short term mindset to make some quick money for themselves.

Pradip deserves a lot of credit for bringing the real picture of a much talked about segment. The learning trap is not just another book, it's a mirror to all those who want to pursue their passion of making a change in the society. Whether you are an engineer who is keen on modern day education technologies, an enthusiastic startup founder who dreams big or middle class parent who wants the best for his/her kids, The Learning Trap is a certain read for all of you. What are you waiting for then? Go grab a copy and learn.

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Personal Recommendation (Startup Journey)